Petra one of the Seven Wonders of the World
“My horse is air conditioned and as fast as a Maserati!”
Troy Media – by Mike Robinson
Petra is often included in bucket lists and is one of the 28 Places to See Before You Die
They start their sales pitches before you enter thesiq, the sharp-sided red sandstone defile that winds one kilometer from the entry gate to your first glimpse of the massive Treasury Building.
Petra, often included in bucket lists, is one of 28 Places to See Before You Die, and is listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. You walk into the Nabataean’s capital city prepared for archaeological splendor, but not for the accompanying sound track of the present day residents, the floggers of horseback rides, carriage trips, all manner of generic developing world jewelry, Bedouin sweet black tea/Turkish coffee/Egyptian Nile brand orange juice/Jordanian bottled water and varied guide books and postcards with Arabic, French, German, Italian and English texts and captions.
“My horse is air conditioned and as fast as a Maserati!”
“Are you ready for your first camel ride?”
“Only 20 minutes to the Monastery instead of one hour!”
“Ride up one-way with me – you can walk down if you wish!”
“Remember my name: it is Moon. If you decide to ride down from the Temple of the Urn, do so with Moon!”
“See you later alligator!”
“Buy something for your wife, and I guarantee she will be very nice to you tonight!
“Your daughter is beautiful; your wife has nice eyes. They deserve to ride above the other tourists!”
“Do not feel you must stop now; eat at my restaurant after you have seen the amphitheatre! We will be awaiting you!”
“Normal price for postcards is two dinars, but for you, because of your beauty it is one. You would have to be even more beautiful for a cheaper price. Both are not possible!”
As I walk through the amazing red sandstone architecture, I am struck by the fact that 2,600 years after the city was first established, it still provides local employment for the Nabataeans’ descendants, whom Jordanians we meet in Damascus refer to as “our aboriginal people.”
Petra’s massive Treasury Building. Photo by Mike Robinson
In Petra, the horse and camel men wear Arab keffiya (head scarves), embroidered shirts, black pants and riding boots. The women typically wearhijabs (as head scarves or veils) and mostly black tunic dresses and sandals. The new Nabataeans we met were all multilingual, and quick to estimate your nationality; “Bonjourno! No? Good morning then? Bonjour?” They ply their trades over two shifts: Petra by day, 9 a.m. to 7; and Petra by night, 8:30 to midnight. Men run the horse and camel rides. Women operate the jewelry stands and most of the food and beverage outlets. Their children are everywhere evident, working post card and Chicklet sales. Everyone was persistent; some to the point of annoyance. And even re-annoyance as you passed them on the way out.
The tourists, for their part, arrive by the air conditioned bus-load at the whimsically beautiful Jordanian Guest House welcome centre, and file into the site for $50.00 day tickets, or $55.00 day and night passes. We are told that French and Italian tourists predominate, but English, German and Persian Gulf residents are all evident in the mid-day throngs of visitors. About one million tourists per year now visit the site, providing the local town and Jordan with a global destination tourism bonanza.
Interestingly, the global tourists we observed at Petra were overwhelmingly dressed as if they were contestants on The Amazing Race or Survivor. Jeff Probst quasi-military epaulette shirts and pocket shorts with trail runners were everywhere, on men and women. So were backpacks, expensive digital cameras, and designer water bottles. Very few tourists appeared comfortable enough to wear their own indigenous, stylish relaxed wardrobe. The availability of keffiyeh for sale did encourage a number of young male tourists to go somewhat Lawrence of Arabia in head-gear. The contrast between the tourists and the new Nabataeans was everywhere stark and direct.
We strategically planned our visit to give us the last two hours of Petra-by-day upon our arrival, when most tourists were leaving, and all of the next day. After about 10 hours of walking through the site, your senses are jammed with Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine architecture. All of it was carved into the sandstone cliffs by Nabataean artisans to create finance, business, residential and funerary spaces for the service of caravanserai traffic that flowed through Petra going north to Damascus, east to the Persian Gulf, south to Aqaba, and west to Gaza.
At the peak of their epoch, perhaps AD 100, the Nabataeans were ‘the Phoenicians’ of Wadi Arabia, the large valley that runs from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Their trade network, taxes and financial services enabled engineering of waterworks that captured flash floods via stone culverts and clay pipes, and directed flows to massive underground cisterns. The oasis of trade they created was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.
Including Petra in your tourism career is inescapable. If you go, dress in your best Canadian casual wear – it will confound a prevalent stereotype and challenge the residents to guess your nationality.
Troy Media columnist Mike Robinson has lived half of his life in Alberta and half in BC. In Calgary he worked for eight years in the oil patch, 14 in academia, and eight years as a cultural CEO. Now back In Vancouver, he is still a cultural CEO, but also has business interests in a resource company and mutual funds.
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